In the past, the carrying of items in baskets has often been limited by the height of the side walls of the basket such that items cannot safely be stacked higher than the height of these side walls. This is especially true with respect to laundry baskets in which stacking the laundry higher than the sides of the laundry basket tended to invite the uppermost laundry from spilling out of the basket, especially when the basket was jostled during transportation. Moreover, due to the open nature of the top of the basket, even laundry that didn""t exceed the heights of the side walls still suffered from potentially being spilled when the basket was tipped. In order to minimize the risk of this spilling, it has been necessary in the past to divide the contents being carried into multiple baskets such that each basket carries only a portion of the total items to be stored or transported. A need can therefore be seen for an improved basket that overcomes these and other disadvantages.
Accordingly, an extendable basket and kit according to the present invention provides an improved basket that allows more items to be placed in, and transported by, the basket. The kit is easily assembled onto existing baskets, such as laundry baskets, and can be easily removed when its use is not desired. The extendable basket includes a flexible extension material, such as cloth, nylon, or other materials, which is affixed generally around the perimeter of a basket. The extension material extends vertically higher than the height of the basket""s side walls, thereby allowing the items to be stacked higher in the basket while being retained in the basket by the extension material. The extension material may include a drawstring or other tightening means for securing the top end of the extension material to prevent items from escaping out of the basket. The extension material may also be secured to the basket by release structures that allow the extension material to be easily removed and reattached as desired by the user.